Car-coupling



2 SheetsShet 1.

(No Model.)

1). M. GEESE & J. sANTs.

GAR COUPLING.

Patented Mar. 14, 1882.

Inrewiahg 60 I NITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID M. GEESE AND J QSEPH SANTS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 254,953, dated March 14, 1882.

Application filed January 14, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DAVID M. GEEsE and JOSEPH SANTS, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplings; and we-do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the-art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The general object of our improvement is to facilitate the coupling automatically of cars of the same and of different height, and of cars while upon curves on the road; to permit the cars tobe buffed without coupling 5 and to admit of the automatic uncoupling of cars when the same are upset by accident; but more particularly to improve the form of construction of the pawl or latch which catches and retains the link,and its mode of operation. These objects are accomplished by the features ill ustrat ed in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 is a View in perspective of thedrawhead and couplingdevice with the link coupled, and showing the connections with platform and side of car; Fig.2, a vertical section of the entire improvement, and Fig. 3 a separate front view of latch.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the different views. a A is adraw head, having abell-shaped mouth and sufficient internal width to give free access and play to links of cars of different height and to admit of the coupling of cars while on curves.

B is a pawl or latch, of nearly the same width asthe inner portion of the draw-head, rounded at its upperend to fit into a socket, 0, formed in the front upper part of the draw-head, held therein by means of a bolt and nut, d, and attached at its lower end to vertical arm D. The bolt and nut may be dispensed with, and the vertical arm may be made shortenough to alone hold the latch in its socket and up from the floor of the draw-head. When, however, the bolt is used the hole in the head of the latch should be sufficiently large to permit the latch to swing freely on the bolt. Arm D may be screwed into the latch, as shown, or the latch or arm may be cast or wrought in one piece.

The latch also plays freelyin its socket, and is held by the arm D at an angle to the front of the draw-head of about forty-five degrees. The lower end of the latch is wedge-shaped; but whiletheinner beveled facefitssquarelyagainst the upturned edge or wall of the link,the outer bevel is shorter and obtuse, so' that the latch presents a flat surface above and close to the link, thus holding the link when engaged more securely and giving to the latch greater strength. The toe of the latch is also rounded or made of segmental form to correspond with similar form of upturned ends of link It, in order to enable the cars to turn on curves without friction and strain of the coupling. The arm 'D passes up through the slot c in the top of the dra\v-head,and at its upper end is pivoted to a link or clevis, F. The link F in turn is connected to a slotted arm, G, by means of a bolt, 00, passing through the slot h in said arm. This bolt also passes through and supports a loose sleeve, w, within the slot 71,. Thus the plays freely inthe slot h, and all friction of these parts is avoided. Arm G is hnn g rigidly on a rod, 1, running across and under the ledge of the platform K, and rotating in sleeves j of brackets Z, on opposite sides of the car-sill.

Attached to the ends of the rod, and on oping the rod and coupling. The outer ends of the levers are provided with weights m, which erwise attached to said arms. The object of these weights is to counterbalance the weight of the arm G and link F, and thus remove all unnecessary weight and strain upon thelatch, in order that the latter may be perfectly balanced and made to work in" its bearings-with perfect freedom, and that the link also may be relieved from undue pressure and allowed free play within the draw-head. These weights may be increased or diminished, as desired, for the purposeindicated. Thus suspended and balanced the latch is made automatically operative by the smallest amount of force, and the friction and strain of the link when the car is coupled, and its connecting parts as they bear upon the draw-head and upon each other, are reduced to the minimum.

H is a recess, formed in the sill of the car to are suspended on short arms and cast or oth-' bolt turns freely in the sleeve and the link posite sides of the car, are levers L, for operatpermit the swinging back of arm D and link- F to their fullest extent.

N represents rounded catches to hold the handles and levers down when it is desired that the cars should remain uncoupled for buffing or other purposes. It being necessary that both levers should be unfastened'at the same time, sufficient endwise play of the rod Iin its sleeves is allowed. It will thus be seen that the car may'be uncoupled from either side and without compelling an attache to go on or betweenthe cars. By this arrangement, also, the coupling on the tender can be brought under the control of the engineer at either side, so as to cut loose in running switches, or for other purposes.

In place of the catches N, a hook on side of car and an open link may be used.

The sliding draw-bar O is provided with spiral spring P to prevent the jar as the cars collide or jerk apart in stopping and starting in the usual way. y

R is an open link, the ends being upturned with rounded faces to fit the corresponding faces of the latch. The latch is provided with a central hole, 8, through which anda slot in the top of the draw-head an ordinary pin may be inserted for use with a common link when desired, through which it is dropped into hole 8 at bottom of the draw-head.

Thus our improvement does not preclude the useof the common coupling-pin and link; but, on the contrary, they may be employed as useful adjuncts thereto, or convenient under special circumstances, when, for instance, the open link or other parts may be broken, or when it may he desired, for purposes of a long trip, to bolt the latch arrangement.

The draw-head is also provided with an elliptical-shaped hole on each side to permit access to the link for cutting the same when by accident the link has been jammed.

In operation the arm D rests against the slot 6 in the upper part of draw-head, and the latch rests in the socket of draw-head, and is held firmly there, so that it cannot fall to the floor ofthe draw-head, nor can it drop farther than the exact distance required to hold the link R in place, and it is not intended to rest with its weight upon the link. Thelink is so constructed as to engage with the latch, while the arm D of the latch is so weighted as not to be displaced or forced upward by any counterweighting of the other end of the link. The weight ofthis arm D and latch also holds the link in proper position to enter the draw-head of the car to becoupled with it. The arm D so holds the latch in place that the pressure,

of the link upon the latch and floor of drawhead is relieved and shared by the arm pressing against the slot 6, and held there, so that the two act together as a perfect wedgeagainst the base and upturned face of the link, but without pressing the linkdown upon the floor of the draw-head. Thus all force and strain exerted by the action'of the couplin g-link upon the latch is taken up by the draw-head, by reason of the position of the latch in its socket, and friction'and strain removed from bolt 01 when used, and from the vertical arm and its link, and those parts are thus at all times left free to act. 1 Should the car be upset by accident, the reverse action of the link F, arms D and G, and counterbalance-weights m will free the latch from the link R, and thus uncouple the cars.

The automatic operation of the gravitatinglatchand its attachments in coupling and uncoupling will now be readily seen without further description.

. Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The latch suspended free from the floor of the draw-head and balanced as described, so as to not rest with its entire weight upon the link, in combination with the verticallysupporting arm, the upper arm, and the swinging shackle connecting the said arms, having a loose bearing and sliding freely in a slot of said upper arm, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the side levers provided with counterbalance-weights at their upper inner ends, the sliding rod supporting said levers, the upper slotted arm, the lower vertical arm, their sliding connecting link or shackle, and the latch, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the vertical arm D, the

DAVID M. GEESE. JOSEPH SANIS.

. Witnesses:

MAOGREGOR J. MITCHESON, JOSEPH MELLoRs. 

